Viral Content: A Theory of Vaccine Hesitancy Based on Information Encountering in the Greater Manila Area, Philippines

Abstract

Background. Ground experiences of the researchers indicate substantial concern about the side-effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine in some individuals who lined up to get vaccinated. The Philippine Department of Health, Food and Drug Administration temporarily suspended the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine to persons below 60 years old on April 8, 2021, due to reports of "rare cases of blood clots with low platelets detected in some individuals inoculated with the vaccine." The authors hypothesize that such encountered information affected the behavior of the vaccine-eligible population, leading to further information gathering, sense-making, and possibly, vaccine hesitancy.Objectives. The researchers sought to determine: (1) how the respondents in this study obtained information regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, (2) what specific information gaps the respondents sought to make sense of, and (3) how the encountered information affected their willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods. A qualitative study was conducted with twenty-one respondents using a grounded theory framework, through a survey with open-ended questions, and follow-up interviews.Results. The study found that "vaccine hesitancy" is not a general phenomenon to be tackled by one approach, but a multifactorial and graded response to encountered information. The strength of response to the encountered information was influenced by its origin, content, and the personal beliefs of the person receiving the information, and vaccine hesitancy may not necessarily translate to vaccine refusal.Contributions. A theory of how encountered information affects vaccine hesitancy was constructed, which can be applied to public health/health information literacy campaigns on social media, television, and other information dissemination platforms.